Pakistan courtroom grants permission to Imran Khan to talk to his sons

A particular courtroom on Thursday granted permission to Pakistan’s embattled former prime minister Imran Khan – at the moment held at Attock Jail – to talk to his sons.

Khan, 70, had filed a petition earlier than Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, searching for permission to talk to his sons – Suleman Khan and Qasim Khan – on the telephone.

Judge Zulqarnain authorized the plea and instructed the jail authorities to facilitate the telephonic dialog between the applicant and his sons in accordance with the regulation, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“Instant application is allowed. Superintendent District Jail Attock is directed to make necessary arrangements for phone calls between the accused and his sons in accordance with jail rules and manual,” the judge said in his brief order.

The development comes a day after Judge Zulqarnain on Wednesday extended Khan’s judicial remand till September 13 in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets, dashing the former prime minister’s hopes of quick release from jail despite being granted bail a day earlier in a corruption case.

Earlier in the day, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sought responses from the Law Ministry and other respondents on Khan’s plea against the recent decision to move the cipher case hearing from Islamabad to Attock Jail.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who presided over the hearing, asked: “Was the court venue shifted?”

Khan’s lawyer answered that the court designated to hear cases filed under the Secrets Act was that of a magistrate.

“Authorising an anti-terrorism courtroom decide to listen to circumstances filed below the Official Secrets Act is incorrect,” Khan’s counsel asserted.

He urged the courtroom to concern notices to the respondents searching for their response on the matter, which the chief justice allowed.

He requested the courtroom to repair the subsequent listening to for the approaching week because it was an pressing matter, to which Justice Farooq agreed and adjourned the listening to until the subsequent week.

The date for the subsequent listening to has but to be finalised.

The listening to of the case on Wednesday befell at Attock District Jail following approval by the Law Ministry amid safety considerations expressed by the Interior Ministry.

Authorities selected Tuesday to carry the listening to of the case contained in the Attock jail the place Khan has been saved since August 5 after his conviction within the Toshakhana corruption case.

Khan’s sentence was suspended by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, however he was not allowed to stroll free, as Judge Zulqernain listening to the cipher case ordered that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief be saved in jail and produced for listening to on Wednesday.

His get together has criticised the choice to conduct hearings in Attock jail.

In March final 12 months, forward of the vote of no-confidence that resulted in his ouster, Khan pulled out a chunk of paper – allegedly the cipher – from his pocket and waved it at a public rally in Islamabad, claiming it was the proof of an “international conspiracy” being hatched to topple his authorities.

However, through the interrogation with the joint investigation workforce (JIT) within the jail on August 26, Khan denied that the paper he waved at a public gathering final 12 months was the cipher. He additionally admitted to shedding the cipher, saying he could not recall the place he saved it.

His principal secretary Azam Khan acknowledged earlier than a Justice of the Peace and the FIA that the Khan used it for his ‘political gains’ and to avert a vote of no-confidence towards him.

The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a gathering between US State Department officers, together with Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan final 12 months.

Of late, Khan has come below elevated scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the key cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many within the earlier authorities led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers on the PTI chief for being the supply of the leak.

Published On:

Sep 1, 2023